A Timeless Appeal
This Ruined Place by Michael Lawrence is a hauntingly beautiful novel that consumed me from the start.
It is a book where the past and present collide. Memories make the veil between very thin.
We witness that not everyone remembers the past in the same way. For some, the past was a rosy place, a place they long to return to. Rose tinted glasses paint a very favourable picture. For others, the past is a more hostile, unforgiving place. It was not always a good place to be. How the characters view the past gives us an insight into their individual natures.
A relationship between a sixteen-year-old granddaughter, her grandparents and a boyhood friend of the couple is complex. Her interactions between the three characters are very different. She actually relates more closely to the childhood friend than her grandparents.
We see that characters live in the old ruins. Memories produce some supernatural characteristics. Those who are more sensitive glimpse the past in the present.
I thoroughly enjoyed This Ruined Place. It has a timeless appeal that sank into my soul.
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
This Ruined Place
Evy Miller thinks a summer with her grandparents in sleepy Dorset will be painfully dull. Her suspicions are confirmed when Juby, a wild-haired, lanky old man, strolls through her grandparents’ doorway. At first, she thinks he’s nothing more than an odd duck who charms her grandmother and annoys her grandfather. The last thing she expects is to become his companion on visits to the small village of Rouklye, whose entire population was evicted during WWII.
She has no idea that the reason for Juby’s visits will become a defining moment in her life and change her understanding of history and her own family forever.
Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/u/bwBNZy
Author Bio – MICHAEL LAWRENCE has written and published a great many books, but he’s done a few other too. For instance, after leaving art school he began training as a graphic designer in a London studio before morphing into a photographer. As a photographer he took pictures for advertising agencies, publishers and newspapers, of pop stars and politicians, of fashion models and underwear, and many other kinds of people and things besides. He also worked in a travelling circus for a little while, and has been an antiques dealer, co-owned two art galleries, and made hundreds of paintings, drawings and experimental digital images. One of his private joys is recording songs (many of which he’s written) under the alias Aldous U.
As a writer he’s won the odd award, had books translated into twenty or so languages (one of which – ‘Young Dracula’ – was the inspiration for five BBC-TV series), has shuffled onto stages at literary festivals, and been interviewed on TV and radio. ‘There’s more,’ he says, ‘but I don’t want to bore you. There’s a lot of me in the Rainey novels, but I’m not saying which bits.’
Social Media Links – https://www.youtube.com/@michaellawrenceswordspictu8659
https://www.facebook.com/michael.lawrence.52035772
